So there it was, a victory over the Toronto Marlies all ready to be chalked up by the Rochester Americans.

Ahead 3-2, in the closing seconds. Just one more clear or one more pass-block and the losing streak to their North Division rival would finally be over.

But of course they couldn’t finish the job.

Matt Frattin roofed his own rebound with just 9.5 seconds remaining to tie the score, then Mike Kostka and Frattin scored on the first and third shootout shots, respectively, and the Marlies headed home with a 4-3 victory.

And the Amerks? They sounded like the shootout loss wasn’t all that bad, that earning 5 of 6 points this week was good.

In some ways, it was a good week. But not when the third game of that stretch was on home ice, against a team that you always lose to. Not when you turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead by scoring twice in 2:14. Not when the go-ahead goal was scored with just 2:13 remaining.

No, this should have been a break-sticks type of loss. When you’ve lost 10 in a row to the same team — five this season, three in the playoffs and the final two of the 2011-12 regular season — there can be no fake consolation from the loser’s point.

“The last play of the game, it was hard-around rim and the got a bounce off the wall,” said left winger Marcus Foligno, who scored the Amerks third goal by tipping in a Zemgus Girgensons shot.

But those plays simply can’t happen. The bounce can’t ever get to the point of being a good bounce. Either the initial hard-around is harder, or the guy on the way makes the play. Or, even before it comes to that, the Amerks don’t end up in scramble mode in the first place.

The Marlies own the Amerks. The Marlies know it; the Amerks know it.

Even in the shootout, goalie David Leggio didn’t look like himself. He was twice burned badly, first by Mike Kostka, the first shootout, and then by Frattin, the third shooter.

“It’s the first time David did’t look confident,” Amerks coach Ron Rolston said. “I don’t know if it was that last goal (of regulation) or what.”

Considering Leggio had stopped 14 of 15 shootout shots in the previous three skills’ competition tiebreakers, and that he and the Amerks were 3-0 this season, the performance was more aberration than anything to cause alarm.

That the Marlies won, however, well that was no aberration. That was the norm. In their 10 straight victories over the Amerks, seven games have been decided by one goal.

“That’s not arrogance. It’s just that we’ve had success and our guys are saying, ‘We can do it again.’ ”

So even when Mark Pysyk tied the score at 15:33 and then Foligno put the Amerks ahead at 17:47, the Marlies didn’t panic.

“Our guys are not easily rattled,” Eakins said. “We’ve had a little bit of a problem with teams coming back on us in the third period but even if they tie it, our bench seems calm. Our guys have resolve.

“You look at all the players (on both teams) and they all look the same, they all have similar skill, but they’re all wired differently. Right now, our group, when we play against Rochester, we don’t believe we can lose.”

Why should they. They can’t.

* * * * * * *

Hodgson played for the first time since Nov. 2. He had missed 14 games with a broken bone in his hand. Roslton said “I thought Cody was really good.”

Hodgson thought from a conditioning standpoint he felt pretty good but that from puck-possession/puck-handling standpoint he would have liked to have done more.

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About Kevin

Kevin Oklobzija has been covering the Rochester Americans and the American Hockey League, as well as the Buffalo Sabres and the NHL, since the puck dropped on the 1985-86 pro hockey season. He has covered the Calder Cup and Stanley Cup playoffs, as well as hockey at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Salt Lake City and Turin, Italy. Hockey's O-Zone will provide news and views on the sport. If you have a comment, Email Kevin, and we'll even make it easy for you -- you don't even need to spell his last name: kevino@democratandchronicle.com.